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Sandip Roy

10:50am

Dispatches from Kolkata

The leader of the world’s biggest democracy and one of the most powerful women in the country said they just couldn’t manage to talk to each other. "I waited and waited but didn’t even get a text message" said the chief minister. "But I left two messages and she didn’t answer" said the Prime Minister’s office......

10:51am

Dispatches from Kolkata

The scariest disease racking Kolkata these days is one no one is sure how to pronounce.The government first blamed the media. Then it blamed private hospitals for trying to drum up business. Now it’s swung into action. We have three wheeler auto rickshaws trundling around the city singing dengue ditties – about stagnant water and garbage and mosquitoes. It’s all about dengue awareness.

11:13am

Dispatches from Kolkata

I learned about "tighty whities" in America thanks to Calvin Klein.It was only after I came back to India that I encountered the dark side of the tighty whitey. I always knew Indians had an obsession with fairness. But I have to admit I was a little taken aback to find that in the new India you could lighten not just your face, or your arms but also your very very private parts.......

11:19am

Dispatches from Kolkata

More people are living solo around the world these days. You can call it a splintering of society. Or you can say it’s because we have better Internet connections. Sweden has the most number of singletions. But the countries where single person households are growing the fastest are Brazil, China and India.